Sender: <marv@lancaironline.net> (Marvin Kaye)
To: lml
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 11:38:41 -0400
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 originator="Paul Davis <pdavis@pdavis.bmc.com>"
From: "Paul Davis" <pdavis@bmc.com>
Reply-to: "Paul Davis" <pdavis@bmc.com>
Subject: Re: [LML] Re: 360 Stall Speed/Buffet Speed 
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 13 Jun 2002 08:49:38 EDT."
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>>>>> On Thu, 13 Jun 2002, "Bill Kennedy" wrote:

  Bill> I really don't want to offend anyone, but the recent email
  Bill> justifying fear and avoidance of stall practice/familiarity
  Bill> is scary. Please think it over and talk with a CFI.

That was my first instinct too, but then I realized that I probably
wasn't thinking clearly.  I'm more used to fairly docile airplanes
like Cessnas and Decathlons.  I know how to recover from spins in
these aircraft, and more importantly, I know the aircraft CAN be
recovered.  I don't know that about our Legacy.

It isn't so easy to recover from spins in some aircraft.
I understand that even the best pilot simply can't recover some
aircraft in some types of spin.  Maybe spin recovery in Lancairs is
much harder, or takes longer, than the typical spam can?  Maybe there
are spins that are stable and simply can't be recovered?  I simply
don't know and don't want to be the test pilot that finds out.

Then there's the added complication that all our aircraft are going to
be just a little bit different from one another -- maybe more than a
little bit -- so what's true for your airplane might not be true for
mine.

Guess the bottom line for me is that unless I hear that a bunch of
Legacy drivers have done a bunch of spins with no problems, I'm going
to avoid them.  Absent a spin recovery chute I'm not inclined to try.
And since I hear that these very slick airplanes almost always drop
a wing in the stall, often rather violently, I'm inclined to avoid
even full stalls unless the wheels are inches above pavement.  I
can certainly see being flicked into an unintended spin or even an
inverted spin.  Following this reasoning I'll probably never loop or
roll our Legacy (but don't hold me to that).  I can still remember
executing less than perfect rolls and even falling out of loops (long
ago).  That sort of thing might be disastrous in these airplanes.

But if some of you do full stalls and/or spins please let us know.

-------------------
Paul Davis
Lancair Legacy builder
pdavis@bmc.com
Phone 713-918-1550
-------------------
Morals are your agreement with yourself to abide by your
own rules. To thine own self be true or you spoil the game.
--Lazurus Long, Time Enough For Love, pg 586